MINNEAPOLIS
|
Iver and his family were in Minneapolis for only a short time, arriving in April 1899 but residing in Chicago by September (or earlier). Why they left Brooklyn for Minneapolis, and why they left Minneapolis for Chicago, remains unknown to me. We can trace only a few activities during their short time in Minneapolis.
On April 5th, 1899, the "Skandinaven," a Norwegian-language newspaper based in Chicago, reported:
"Mr. I. F. Iverson and his family traveled last week to Minneapolis, Minn., intending to take up residence, and if the conditions there are favorable then to establish his own business of the same kind as the one hitherto carried on in Brooklyn." |
On June 7th, 1899, the "Skandinaven" reported:
“The rumor circulating around the city that former bookseller I. F. Iverson’s son, Louis Iverson, was killed by accident in Minneapolis, we have reason to doubt, since letters from Iverson since the time of the accident contain nothing of it.” Louis Iverson (birth name Arthur Louis Iverson) was my great-grandfather, and he definitely did not die at that time, nor in Minneapolis! Whether there was any accident at all remains to be determined, as I can find no articles mentioning it. |
Alas, Iver's new business in Minneapolis was not to be. By the end of summer 1899, the Iversons moved on to Chicago, where Iver's mother, Iver himself, his widow Elen, and his mother-in-law Ingeborg all came to tragic ends. This information is described on the next page. However, Iver and his family were missed in Brooklyn, as the following news clips reveal:
July 6th, 1899 in the "Nordisk Tidende" -- unclaimed letters arrived at the Seamen's Church. The same list was printed in the Chicago-based "Skandinaven" on July 12th.
One friend even wrote from Wisconsin to the Brooklyn newspaper, asking if anyone knew Iver's whereabouts. This column was printed in the "Nordisk Tidende," October 3rd, 1901:
"Who can provide notification? Iver F. Iverson's address is wanted. We received the following letter requesting the address of the former Columbia Street bookseller, I. F. Iverson. We, for our part, do not know it, but perhaps there is someone among the magazine's readers who can give the inquirer the desired information. In that case, they are asked to write to either the addressee or to the ‘Nordisk Tidende.’ * Colfax, Wisconsin, September 28th, 1901 Mr. Editor, If you have any knowledge of where Iver F. Iverson now resides, you would do me a great favor by informing me. Since he ran a bookstore in Brooklyn, I've lost track of him. I know the family from Norway, and it would be of interest to me to be able to connect with them. M. Ulvestad in Minneapolis was kind enough to give me your address and that you probably knew his whereabouts. I heard Iverson moved from Minneapolis to Chicago. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. With regards, J. Waage, Priest" I have determined this writer to be Reverend Johannes Waage, born in 1845 in Evendvig, Gulen, Sogn og Fjordane County, where Iver’s mother Johanne was also born. The Reverend immigrated to the United States in 1874 and established the Colfax Lutheran Church, in Dunn County, Wisconsin, until his death in 1913. M. (Martin) Ulvestad was a prolific journalist/historian who wrote numerous books and directories documenting the lives of Norwegian-Americans. If anyone knew where Iver might be, it would be Mr. Ulvestad! You can read more about his prolific work here: https://nbl.snl.no/Martin_Ulvestad |